Ever since the heir to the legendary Big John’s barbecue restaurant, Grandpa John’s Rib Shack, opened up on Willow Knolls Drive a few months ago, I knew I’d include it here on the MBIP year-long sandwich tour. And they’re handily located within walking distance from MBIP World Headquarters, so let’s just head on over, we’ll be there before you know it...

See, we’re here!

Check it out, there’s lots of outside seating available here now, but I prefer to dine indoors, so let’s go inside.

As soon as I walked in I saw Darice and Thomas, who I met the last time I was in here. The last time I got a rib dinner and asked them what they would suggest as far as sandwiches go and they both told me that the pulled pork sandwich is the most popular sandwich ordered at Grandpa John’s Rib Shack, so that’s what I decided to order!

I went up to the window where you place your food order and as you can see, they’re busy up here! Brianna multi-tasked and took my order while also on phone duty! That’s one talented lady!

While they’re preparing the sandwich order, let’s take a little look around in here. There’s some new wall decorations in here since our last visit, I like the rustic designs and art on the walls. And the bottom one is a tribute to the most famous Big John quote of them all: “Y’all have enough to eat?”

Speaking of Big John, the walls have plenty of photos of him and the original Big John’s downtown restaurant. I love looking at these photos, it’s like taking a trip down memory lane!

Okay, I think our order is probably just about ready, so let’s grab a table over in the corner. The bottom photo is the view from the back corner table of the restaurant.

Minutes later, Brianna arrives with our sandwich, perfect timing!

The sandwich and fries look great, but there’s something missing from this Grandpa John’s equation, hmm, what could it be...

The sauce! Time to add some of the magical original Big John’s sauce to the order!

There we go, I’ve applied a liberal amount of sauce to both the sandwich and the fries and now we’ve got a Grandpa John’s meal ready to sample!

We’ll start off with the fries and they are so good! They’re crispy on the outside and flaky and potatoey on the inside as you bite into them. And never put ketchup on these, Big John’s sauce is the only condiment worthy of coating these fries in!

Okay, we’ve sampled the fries and now it’s time for the sandwich moment of truth, let’s try the Grandpa John’s Pulled Pork sandwich!

Wow, it’s so good! The pulled pork is juicy, flavorful and tender and the sauce is the crowning touch of glory to this meaty masterpiece of a sandwich. The bun is really fresh and soft and this is so good. And as you can see, they don’t skimp on the meat, after I finished this I definitely had enough to eat and Big John would’ve been happy!

Sandwich Rating

Three and three quarter Dagwood Bumsteads—This is really a tasty pulled pork sandwich and the fries and Big John’s original BBQ sauce definitely take it to a very tasty level!